Once Upon a Masquerade
by bubbles2100
Summary: <html><head></head>Valentine's Day at James Smithson High School was the most uneventful and unexciting time of year. This was particularly true to Maggie Winnock, and probably only true to her and her alone. But one dance will change that. Oneshot</html>


**Disclaimer: I don't own Unnatural History.**

**Once Upon a Masquerade**

"_Let's get these teen hearts beating faster faster, let's get these teen hearts beating faster…"- Panic! at the Disco _

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Valentine's Day at James Smithson High School was _the_ most uneventful and unexciting time of year. This was particularly true to Maggie Winnock, and probably only true to her and her alone. She wasn't exactly interested in any of the guys, and every corner she seemed to turn at that school involved someone hand holding or eating face, which was against school policy to begin with and she would most often report it. She decided that she reported the cases of PDA because she was jealous, but she only admitted that to herself once when she was in the middle of reporting Hunter for his ridiculous attempt at skipping class to make out with some blonde on the cheerleading squad.

She was coordinating the Valentine's Day dance that year, as she had done every year before this and would continue to do until she graduated. It was good for her college apps; she had to keep telling herself that was why she did it. It had nothing to do with the fact that she may or may not have been attracted to a certain brown haired, brown eyed guy with a competing GPA and was trying to completely stun him with her ability to be somewhat interesting and not always the one who had to do things right.

The dance was a masquerade in which everyone was supposed to wear a mask, obviously, and they had to bring a date if at all possible, it being a Valentine's Day dance and all. She was only going because she was coordinator and because there was going to be an indie band performing that her brother-in-law played drums for, not because Jasper and Henry were being forced to come, no, not at all.

However, there _was_ something that intrigued her. A note had been placed in her locker the day before the dance with magazine clipped letters, almost like a serial killer, but she didn't think a serial killer would tell her to meet them at the dance by the DOUM rooms' door at eight thirty on the spot. There wasn't a signature or anything that revealed to her who it was, so she folded the paper and slipped it into her clutch before she left her house on the night of the dance.

She smoothed out her nice blue dress and sighed at how uncomfortable it was. She liked wearing dresses, this was true, but this dress made her feel like she was fat, even though that was completely untrue. There was a portion of her back that was revealed, which only made it even more uncomfortable, but she didn't have to worry about getting made fun of because she would be also participating in the mask wearing.

When her toes began getting cramped up in her high heels, she cringed and slipped her bare feet out of them to stretch for just a moment. She was standing in the already filling museum, where the dance was being held that night. Her eyes were trained on the door through the safety of the mask she wore. She opted for the plain white design because it was the most simple and didn't cost much, after all this was just a dance and she wasn't really partaking in any of it. After about five minutes, she saw two guys walk in. She knew who they were only because one of them wore Converse and the other wore completely incorrect attire for a dance, but they were following code by wearing masks, Henry appearing to not really want to be wearing his and touching it, but Jasper smacking his hand away.

For a moment, she considered talking to them and having them try to guess who she was because she _was_ wearing a mask for a reason, but her vision was cut off by one of the tech club members trying to talk to her about something and she was forced to talk back. As soon as he left, she looked for her two best friends but couldn't find them anywhere.

The possibilities of who the person could have been- the one who put a note in her locker- were getting smaller by the second. It could have easily have been anyone, really. But everyone who had come to the dance so far had a date, with the exception of Jasper and Henry. So the question was- was her magazine –letter-note mystery man one of them or was it someone who hadn't come yet?

She made her way around the room slowly, occasionally stopping and making small talk with some of the students that were standing off by the side. She found her brother-in-law and thanked him for coming after she revealed who she was to him. He was a very nice guy, she was glad her sister married him. For a brief second, she thought about the mystery person again and how it could have been him or even her sister, but she couldn't see why. When she looked for Jasper and Henry, she still couldn't find them in the place they had once been. She didn't have time to worry about them, though, because people started asking her to dance and she had to politely decline because of how uncomfortable she was and how anxious she was about the note.

Maggie was standing by the back wall when she was approached by a guy, or at least someone wearing dress clothes rather than a dress. She didn't know who the person was, but she smiled at them nonetheless.

"Hi," she greeted.

"Hey," It was definitely a guy, someone she had spoken to before, but she couldn't tell with all of the sounds going on all around her. "Have you seen Maggie?" She smiled and almost laughed at the suggestion that she didn't look like herself.

"May I ask who wants to know?" she asked, straightening out her posture.

"Um, if you know where she is or if you find her, just tell her that someone who wants to remain anonymous wants her to have this." He held in his hand a single yellow daisy. She took it from him cautiously, not quite understanding.

"I'll be sure to give it to her. I'm sure she'll love it." He nodded once and then left, leaving Maggie trying to figure out who he was, let alone who the anonymous gift giver was. She stuck the flower into her hair because she had nowhere else to put it.

The dance began at seven, so eight thirty came after the longest amount of time she had ever endured, it seemed. She had been thinking about whom it could have been for the whole time, and Maggie found herself lingering over by the DOUM rooms' door, anxiously eyeing it for the person she was supposed to meet. No one stood there, and no one came even after she checked her phone to see that it was eight forty five.

Her heart was racing and her mind was in a blur for no reason at all. She knew it was completely stupid to be feeling like this and even to do what someone couldn't ask to her face. She was about to begin walking around the room again when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A piece of paper neatly folded and placed on a chair. At impulse, she lunged at it and immediately opened it, revealing the familiar magazine cut out letters.

"Meet me outside as soon as the dance is over. I promise I won't stand you up because I really, really like you," she read aloud softly. "P.S. I'm not a serial killer or a rapist." She smiled at that and folded it and placed it neatly beside the original note. When she looked around for potential persons who could have put the note on the chair, she found no one. Not even Jasper or Henry were around, not that they would be. They had disappeared almost two hours ago, which made her feel kind of upset if she were being honest. They were always so supportive of her doing things for school, well most of the time they were, and they almost always were consistent in attending them unless they had previous engagements. The fact that they weren't there made her feel alone, if she was being truthful. And she was.

Her heart was racing as the teenagers assembled began to leave the museum about an hour after finding the note on the chair. She had to stay behind to help clean up and to thank her brother-in-law's band again, so she eased the mask off as she began to walk up to him.

"Thank you _so_ much for coming on such short notice." Ryan, her brother-in-law, smiled and pulled her into a hug.

"Thank _you_ for having us. It was a really good crowd." She chewed at her lip when she backed away from him.

"Did you happen to see someone wearing Converse at all? I thought they were here but I couldn't find them." He shook his head and she inwardly felt her stomach twisting.

"No, sorry,"

"It's ok," she covered quickly. "Tell Emily I said hi and tell her she should call me sometime. I miss her a lot." Ryan smiled and nodded.

"I'll tell her." After Maggie told him goodbye and finished all of her duties of cleaning and filling out a report for the teacher's board, she slipped out of her shoes and she completely forgot about the mystery note leaving person and how Jasper was there, but wasn't. She just walked outside with the intent on getting home and going to sleep.

She only remembered the note when she opened the door and saw a person standing by her car. A person wearing a mask and black Converse.

The line ran through her mind, "I promise I won't stand you up because I really, really like you," Her heart began racing again and she tried to not be completely and utterly weak at the knees at this whole secrecy love affair he was having with her, but it was really sort of sweet and kinda hot.

Maggie drew closer to her vehicle and as soon as she got to the car, she chewed at her lip and slipped the flower out of her hair. She didn't know what to say to him at all, but he must have had some reason for this whole thing, so she assumed he'd be the first. But he wasn't, so she prodded him to speak.

"Are you going to remain anonymous or do I have to guess who you are?" He took the mask off of his face and Maggie could barely make out familiar features through the moonlight. "I don't understand."

"Maggie, I-"

"Jasper, I don't understand- did you make those notes and send the flower?" He nodded once and she sighed. "Why?"

"Because I," he stopped himself after the words came out harshly. Maggie watched him as he started pacing, almost like he was frustrated with himself. "Look, Maggie, I'm sorry for this whole thing. It was stupid and I'm stupid for thinking you'd ever like me back because you're so perfect, I don't see how you _could_ like me back. I'm so stupid." Though her heart was still beating quickly, she was able to shake her head and place her shoes on the ground.

"You're not stupid," She stepped closer to him and he turned to her. She could tell he was still frustrated and upset, but she knew he wasn't lying about anything. He really did feel and he didn't want to hurt himself or her, that's why he didn't hesitate to show it. "I think it was really kind of sweet, the secrecy and...you. I like you too, Jasper." He suddenly burst out laughing, which was confusing for a second because she just admitted something to him that she could barely admit to herself. But then she understood. He was laughing out of relief.

"I know you don't really like Valentine's Day, but I… I don't know," He handed her a small piece of paper and she squinted to make out what was on it. It was enough to make her smile. It was a Charlie Brown valentine, the kind little kids give to everyone in their class on Valentine's Day, and he had written her name on it right above his on the dotted lines. On the back there was a giant heart and the single question: Will you be my valentine? "I was going to just give it to you like that but I got cold feet and Henry had a better idea." She looked up at him, quite puzzled. But it was explained when music started playing and little confetti's rained down on them from rigging in a tree, causing her to laugh. "I told him there was way too much confetti."

"I don't know, there seems to be enough." He smiled at her and she held the paper up. "If you ask then I'll think about it." He didn't respond for a second, but then he nodded in what seemed to be determination.

"Will you be my valentine?" She didn't have to think about it, but she did. And when the word escaped from her lips, her mind took a mental picture of the look on his face and forever encased it in the very base of the folder titled Jasper, beneath every other good memory, every date, every kiss, and the moment he proposed seven years to the day he asked her to be his valentine.

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**A/N: So I had to write this. It was begging me to write it, so I did. It could potentially be a two shot, if anyone wants it to be. Thank you for reading! Reviews are lovely. :)**


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